hinten: Who is John Galt?

10/10

Congress passes law limiting credit card interest rate hikes. So, not being as stupid as Congress thinks they are, credit card companies increase rates months before the law kicks in. Thanks, Congress

The fail tag is for subby thinking that CC companies only raised rates because of this law right?

Just checked....

Neither of my CC rates have changed in quite a while. One of them is about to be paid off. When it is, I'm closing it.

The other still has a rather nasty balance, but it has an 8.9% rate for purchases and cash advances and I was considerably stupid with it several years ago. I'll be keeping it open for emergencies once I do have it paid off next year.

Dear Despondent,

Instead of killing your wife and kids before shooting yourself in the head this time, please take some time and plan a proper rampage through some executive suites at a credit card company, an insurance company or some other criminal enterprise. Lobbying firms, corporate law offices and Wal-Mart HQ are also accepted.

Thanks,
Api

/capitalism signing its own death warrant

Apik0r0s: Dear Despondent,

Instead of killing your wife and kids before shooting yourself in the head this time, please take some time and plan a proper rampage through some executive suites at a credit card company, an insurance company or some other criminal enterprise. Lobbying firms, corporate law offices and Wal-Mart HQ are also accepted.

Thanks,
Api

/capitalism signing its own death warrant

And even though selecting to kill innocent people who are not members of your family and choosing to not kill innocent people who are members of your family will make absolutely no difference to your financial situation or mine, this will give me a thrill up my leg to see the other people's blood run in the street because it cant be my fault I was so stupid and spent lots of money and ran up my debt. They made me go out and buy the computer and the new car and the stupid bling hanging around my neck and the plasma tv and the cell phone and all the other crap that I didnt need.


In fact, lets just regress back into an agrarian society where we all grow our own food, live in thatched huts, and die of small pox, leprosy, and measles by the time we are 25.

As someone mentioned previously if your bank raises the rate on your card you have the option of cancelling and locking in the rate you've been paying for the balance.

Sure this will hurt some people who are trying to use credit to live beyond there means, but hasn't everyone been calling for them to do more to deter these people from taking on so much credit anyway?

DaSwankOne: hinten: How are you addressing anything I just wrote on topic besides repeating that you read a certain book?

Look I am used to objectivist being total idiots, but you are the one that brought up John Galt. The points you brought up are not based in reality. Deregulation has been a total failure. Any one that is not stupid enough to believe in objectivism understands this.

I did not say anything about deregulation as a matter of fact I said I favor regulation only of a different kind than what congress has done here.
The reason why I brought up John Galt is that this is a great example of unintended consequences of regulation and not about objectivism as I clearly pointed out in my second post.

You ran out of steam there before you even started.

godofusa.com

Bullshiat. That's why you rent and SAVE. SAVE SAVE SAVE!

Then you can put down $100,000 on a $125,000 house (or hell, the house will be 100k with the way the real estate will continue to plummit) and you are rewarded for your savings.

What a $100k house may look like:



Where do you live that $100k (or $125k) will buy you any kind of a house?

Credit card companies are the scum of the earth and you are encouraging horrible business practices by doing business with them.

Stop being an asshole.

It's funny watching poor people argue over who has the 'better' credit game running. It's like watching addicts argue over who has the 'better' problem. Are this many people so irresponsible they don't actually have money?

coco ebert: No, but as I found out, NOT having a credit card means you can't buy a car or a house.

Where do you live that you can't buy a car or house with real money?

portscanner: because it cant be my fault I was so stupid and spent lots of money and ran up my debt. They made me go out and buy the computer and the new car and the stupid bling hanging around my neck and the plasma tv and the cell phone and all the other crap that I didnt need.


Funny, the one person I know of with a credit card debt that will probably lead to him filing bankruptcy is a self-employed floor installer who paid for health insurance for over a decade, only to be cancelled when he got sick. So he was forced to pay for his care with credit cards and made good faith efforts to repay, still is in fact, even though he knows it probably won't mean anything. He doesn't have a computer, so he can't tell you about it himself. He has nothing.

He would probably be able to barely make it work, if it were not for the housing market collapsing.

And just WHO forced the mortgage lenders and credit card companies to give all of that bad credit? Oh, let me guess, people lied about their income on their loan application. If only every person had a unique number assigned to them that would allow a bank to see what they really made the year before.

Sure, there were people taking advantage of something they knew was too good to be true, and maybe getting a large screen TV out of it. But the bastards that enabled them got yachts and homes in The Hamptons out of it.

It's the difference between being stupid and being a pirate.

I wonder how much the credit card companies paid the congress for that window?

rat_brain_flies_plane: FTA:Charles Chichester Jr., a 65-year-old retired U.S. Postal Service employee who lives in Fairfax County, was trying to pay off his credit card soon but now fears he will be unable to do so at all. He received a letter from Chase, he said, notifying him that his $373 minimum monthly payment would increase to more than $900.

Got the same letter. It was a bulk-mail change to cardholders' terms and conditions. What really pisses me off is that the month prior, Chase bank gave their customers a one-month "pass"--even though I had a balance, they said "because we're compassionate about the circumstances of the current economy, you don't have a payment due this month."

And then came the buggering.

/yeah, I have a balance
//"transfer a balance to this card for really low interest for the life of the balance"
///no, i'm not trying to weasel my way out of it. my debt, my problem, but when the company changes the rules midstream it makes it damn near impossible to comply.

twistofsin: As someone mentioned previously if your bank raises the rate on your card you have the option of cancelling and locking in the rate you've been paying for the balance.

Sure this will hurt some people who are trying to use credit to live beyond there means, but hasn't everyone been calling for them to do more to deter these people from taking on so much credit anyway?

Yeah, tried that, too. Chase denied my request. This is, I dunno, Kafkaesqe?

So why do people keep paying on these? To preserve their credit rating so they can get farked again?

AmazingRuss: So why do people keep paying on these? To preserve their credit rating so they can get farked again?

I can only answer for myself but it's two reasons: personal responsbility, and my belief in the high probability that if I walked away from my debt like other asshats, somehow my credit rating would be screwed and they'd still collect on the debt. No-win.

Americans are saving money and paying down debt at a rate that hasn't been seen for decades.
(stop it you're killing the economy!)

Those advising people to stop carrying balances at usurious rates should be pleased that so many people are finally listening.
(stop it you're killing the economy!)

I, of course, have been saving 10% of my take home for many years, paying my mortgage off at an accelerated rate and avoiding any non mortgage debt all along.
(screw the economy, let the chumps bury themselves supporting consumer demand!)

jst3p: crappie: Lord_Baull: My 780 credit score and I are concerned.

Did you know your credit score will go down if you simply purchase things at the same store as the deadbeats, even if you pay everthing on time.

You credit score? I am pretty sure that is incorrect.

No, that is true.

Furious_Chicken: Where do you live that you can't buy a car or house with real money?

I got a nice, lovely little sturdy home for less than 80k.

But then again I live in the armpit of America and get to hear the military testing various munitions at all hours of the day.

Before the econoby blew up this seemed like a great deal.

WayToBlue:Where do you live that $100k (or $125k) will buy you any kind of a house?

$150K in suburban Ohio can get you a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 car attached garage in a safe neighborhood with a good school district. $100K can get you a lovely bungalow in the same town.

/prices still have a long way to fall
//thinks we'll see similar prices in California when it's all done
///hold onto your butts, America

captain_heroic44: jst3p: crappie: Lord_Baull: My 780 credit score and I are concerned.

Did you know your credit score will go down if you simply purchase things at the same store as the deadbeats, even if you pay everthing on time.

You credit score? I am pretty sure that is incorrect.

No, that is true.

I'm sure the people it happens to would argue that point

hinten: I did not say anything about deregulation as a matter of fact I said I favor regulation only of a different kind than what congress has done here.
The reason why I brought up John Galt is that this is a great example of unintended consequences of regulation and not about objectivism as I clearly pointed out in my second post.

Wow, just wow.

They've been doing this extensively for the past year, long before this legislation passed. These events are the by-product of a free market.

Instant Karma - These dumbass people are still affecting the angels among you with Dave Ramsey tattoos on your foreheads whether you like it or not.


I don't even care what your point was, I just wanted to chime in and say...

Seriously, I'm so farking SICK of Dave Ramsey and his obnoxious disciples. Wow, you guys figured out you could save some money and not carry credit card balances? Well shiat, no wonder you're so farking smug. That's quite a dazzling formula you've stumbled upon... How on Earth did anyone ever figure that out?

Is there anything the AM Radio set WON'T get self-righteous about? I swear to God, if Click and Clack would just get a little more judgey-preachy and sanctimonious, you'd see a farking cult of Republicans wandering around shrieking "I change MY goddamn oil..."

portscanner - Apik0r0s: Dear Despondent,

Instead of killing your wife and kids before shooting yourself in the head this time, please take some time and plan a proper rampage through some executive suites at a credit card company, an insurance company or some other criminal enterprise. Lobbying firms, corporate law offices and Wal-Mart HQ are also accepted.

Thanks,
Api

/capitalism signing its own death warrant

And even though selecting to kill innocent people who are not members of your family and choosing to not kill innocent people who are members of your family will make absolutely no difference to your financial situation or mine, this will give me a thrill up my leg to see the other people's blood run in the street because it cant be my fault I was so stupid and spent lots of money and ran up my debt. They made me go out and buy the computer and the new car and the stupid bling hanging around my neck and the plasma tv and the cell phone and all the other crap that I didnt need.


In fact, lets just regress back into an agrarian society where we all grow our own food, live in thatched huts, and die of small pox, leprosy, and measles by the time we are 25.


You know... just because the junkie seeks out heroin, it doesn't absolve the drug dealer of the responsibility for what he is.

Just because the molested teen chooses to turn tricks, the sins of the pimps and johns who exploit her aren't magically washed away.

You don't get to claim innocence simply because someone chooses to allow you to victimize them. A junkie can beg you, a 15 year old can reach in your pants and grab your junk, but at the end of the day... if you engage in sleazy practices, you're a sleazebag.

Just because someone asks you to do it or agrees to allow you to do it doesn't magically make it okay. Whatever they are, whatever they do... you're still carry the weight for your own choices.

Are people who lose control of credit dumbasses? A lot of times, yes. (but many times they're simply desperate...) Does that mean that the people who exploit that stupidity (or desperation) aren't slimy crooked farks? No.

And before you say something stupid, no... I'm not justifying or supporting a hypothetical massacre within a credit card company. Just pointing out the childishness of your "because it cant be my fault I was so stupid" mentality.

Credit card companies aren't poor blameless business folk just trying to stay afloat. They're goddamn parasites bleeding the middle and working classes dry and employing every sleazy shifty tactic they can dream up to TRY to trip their customers up and push them just over the financial cliff. The fact that their customers sign up willingly doesn't make their actions or tactics any less sleazy.

godofusa.com: Great job, Congress!

I was forced into applying for my credit line!

I was forced to buy that car!

I was forced to buy that plasma tv!

I was forced to buy that iphone and data plan!

I was forced to eat at restaurants 3 nights a week instead of cooking for my family!

TTTTTTTTTTTTTHHHHHHHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.

WayToBlue: Where do you live that $100k (or $125k) will buy you any kind of a house?

Where do you live that you can't?

$125k 3 years ago got me 1700 sq. ft. 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths and a large yard (or so it feels when I have to mow). 2 car garage and a kitchen with all the appliances.

I also live 4 miles from a fortune 50 company where I earn my living.
-
I saw in classifieds a 1056 sq ft house with 3 bedrooms, 2 baths for $96k.

WayToBlue: godofusa.com

Bullshiat. That's why you rent and SAVE. SAVE SAVE SAVE!

Then you can put down $100,000 on a $125,000 house (or hell, the house will be 100k with the way the real estate will continue to plummit) and you are rewarded for your savings.

What a $100k house may look like:



Where do you live that $100k (or $125k) will buy you any kind of a house?

I'm in NJ, so not here, but NC (where I plan on moving), you can get a 1800sq off a foreclosure from 80-125 EASILY or around 125-150 new.

/DAMN YOU CORSLIME

darkscout: WayToBlue: Where do you live that $100k (or $125k) will buy you any kind of a house?

Where do you live that you can't?

Heh. There are quite a few places where $125K will not get you a house, unless you already own the land and order from the Tumbleweed Tiny House company. See zip code 94041 (Trulia gives avg $499/sq ft), for instance. SF itself and parts of NYC are probably more expensive.

I carry no credit card debt

I believe in personal responsibility

I still think the CC companies are predatory scumbags.

godofusa.com: Great job, Congress!

I was forced into applying for my credit line!

I was forced to buy that car!

I was forced to buy that plasma tv!

I was forced to buy that iphone and data plan!

I was forced to eat at restaurants 3 nights a week instead of cooking for my family!

Yeah...Some of you need to realize that some people with credit card debt have it because they have really lousy jobs and shiat happens -- medical bills, broken down car, elderly parent, etc. I'm not crying any tears for the guy who bought that plasma tv and Ferrari, but there's actual victims here, too.

If you have trouble paying the minimum requirement, which is 3%, and if you're completely outraged that the minimum percentage requirement is now 5%, you really should not be using a credit card.

5% of a 1,000 is 50 bucks. If you can't afford that, you need to stop using credit cards.

If you have an outstanding balance of over 10k on your card, wtf are you doing with a credit card in the first place? And if its health related, might I suggest flying down to Costa rica where healthcare is 1/3rd of American price, and a round trip down there is ~300.

darkscout
WayToBlue: Where do you live that $100k (or $125k) will buy you any kind of a house?

Where do you live that you can't?

$125k 3 years ago got me 1700 sq. ft. 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths and a large yard (or so it feels when I have to mow). 2 car garage and a kitchen with all the appliances.

I also live 4 miles from a fortune 50 company where I earn my living.
-
I saw in classifieds a 1056 sq ft house with 3 bedrooms, 2 baths for $96k.

Even in this crappy economy, where I'm from 160k will buy you a mediocre condo. A decent house goes for 200k plus but an avg house around my way is still 400k at minimum. But then again I live by Washington DC, where you can find Apts selling for 850k. Always amazed at how much 200k can buy you in other states though.

pvd021: If you have an outstanding balance of over 10k on your card, wtf are you doing with a credit card in the first place?

She told me there was sex in the champaign room.

AmazingRuss: pvd021: If you have an outstanding balance of over 10k on your card, wtf are you doing with a credit card in the first place?

She told me there was sex in the champaign room.

How urbane. U I U C what did there.

WayToBlue: Where do you live that $100k (or $125k) will buy you any kind of a house?

in the town i live in 125K will get you a very nice house. 85K will get you 3 bed rooms in the best school district. 50K will get a home in a good area with a low crime rate. its cheap to live in flyover country

Hey finance, DIAF.

godofusa.com: Great job, Congress!

I was forced into applying for my credit line!

I was forced to buy that car!

I was forced to buy that plasma tv!

I was forced to buy that iphone and data plan!

I was forced to eat at restaurants 3 nights a week instead of cooking for my family!

Yeah, no one forced all those broken-legged crybabies to go to a loan shark.

DaSwankOne:
Wow, just wow.

deregulation:
dismantling of legal and governmental restrictions on the operation of certain businesses.

You're boring, go back in your hole troll.

Sev79: Yeah...Some of you need to realize that some people with credit card debt have it because they have really lousy jobs and shiat happens -- medical bills, broken down car, elderly parent, etc. I'm not crying any tears for the guy who bought that plasma tv and Ferrari, but there's actual victims here, too.

And while I have no doubt these people exist I think you'll find them in the minority when compared to folks who are just making really shiatty financial decisions. Folks with nothing in savings who blow their tax refunds on a satellite TV receiver instead of hanging onto it for when they need a brake job on their car or...

Hey, Godofusa.com, from the Constitution: Article I, Section 8, Clause 3.

"The Congress shall have power . . . To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes;"

Would you say that regulating credit cards is a form of regulating commerce among several states? If not, what is it?

hinten: DaSwankOne:
Wow, just wow.

deregulation:
dismantling of legal and governmental restrictions on the operation of certain businesses.

You're boring, go back in your hole troll.

You know what I love? When a village idiot shows up to Fark and gets his ass handed to him by saying something like, I said nothing about deregulation, I was just warning about the pitfalls of regulation and then finally comes to the point where they look like such an idiot that they have to pull the your a troll card. Thank you for making my night. It is nice to know that you have been beaten down some idiot so badly that they call you a troll. God you are a farking moran.

captain_heroic44: jst3p: crappie: Lord_Baull: My 780 credit score and I are concerned.

Did you know your credit score will go down if you simply purchase things at the same store as the deadbeats, even if you pay everthing on time.

You credit score? I am pretty sure that is incorrect.

No, that is true.

I will split hairs but the score went down because the limit was lowered which put his utilization higher. The places he shoped did not directly lower his credit score.

Well, crap, just put ~300 on the credit card for a doctors appointment and the prescriptions... hooray for no health insurance...

I canceled my last credit card 8 years ago.

If I can't pay for it in cash (or, I suppose, a wire transfer), I don't need it.

The whole credit industry is a scam. Legalized loan-sharking. Fark em.

dont farking use credit. i have a debit/atm card. cost me next to nothing. i think its 20 bucks a year. i use it for everything.

apacheco: some have had to use cards for emergencies its not always to flaunt. When gas prices were at their highest i needed to charge most of the gas (for freakin months). w

Bullshiat.
Cancel your Cable, your netflix, your cell phone, your sirius radio, don't have a soda every day (saves $30/month), don't eat out even once that month.

Someone who can not buy GAS, is not living within their means in other areas.

BHShaman: Bullshiat.
Cancel your Cable, your netflix, your cell phone, your sirius radio, don't have a soda every day (saves $30/month), don't eat out even once that month.

The sad thing is that these days it can cost $100 to $300 just to farking cancel a service... so that isn't always a viable option.

WayToBlue: godofusa.com
What a $100k house may look like:


$108k when I bought it at the height of the bubble.
Houses were selling in 1 day. We stopped on a Friday 2 hours after the sign was put out and signed a promisary.

3Br, 2 F-Bath, Full basement, 4 car garage (2 in-line each bay), and 2acres of land. I live 10 minutes from my State Capital.

BHShaman: 3Br, 2 F-Bath, Full basement, 4 car garage (2 in-line each bay), and 2acres of land. I live 10 minutes from my State Capital.

You paid 108k for what appears to be a prettied up TuffShed.